In Praise of the Fluff-Light Monster Manual (Forked: Ecology of the Dragonborn up)

[Ashrum the Black]

Guys, I have to say I stongly disagree. A monster manual with no fluff for the monter is fine for a DM that is experienced with former editions. But if I was walking into 4E cold, I'd be ticked as all get out. Without having that fluff it becomes darn hard to get a handle on the creature, to place it within some form of framework.

I'd have to say that the gold standard of MM style books was set by Privateer Press with their Monsternomican. That book not only had monster stats but provided ecological information, and rumors that PC's could know about the creatures. This allows a new DM to walk in, flip through the book, see the stats, and at the same time drop the creature into his world with very minimal work. And it all makes internal sense.

This means that one of the hard parts of DMing, coming up with the fluff that your imaginary world hangs its hat on is done for you. For a new DM this is invaluable. I've been playing Dnd since red and blue boxes, do I need the fluff for the 10th time? Of course not. But if noboby had ever given me the fluff in the first place my dungeons would never have migrated beyond a ten foot room with an orc and a pie.

Less mosters, and more fluff would have made me a happier camper. Heck for that matter more fluff to go with the paragon classes would have been wonderful addition as well.

I flipped through some of my later 3E books the other day and their expanded fluff sections comared to what we have from current 4E makes me want to cry. Bring back the fluff WOTC!

-Ashrum

 

[Asmor]

Guys, I have to say I stongly disagree. A monster manual with no fluff for the monter is fine for a DM that is experienced with former editions. But if I was walking into 4E cold, I'd be ticked as all get out. Without having that fluff it becomes darn hard to get a handle on the creature, to place it within some form of framework.

I scanned the ToC in the MM and looked for something that I was unfamiliar with and pretty sure was new to 4th edition. First thing to meet both those criteria was Shadowsworn.

The Shadowsworn have 2 paragraphs of fluff, totaling 11 lines. On those 11 lines we have:
*Shadowsworn feed on grief
*Tasked with killing mortals who cheat death
*Drawn to battlefields
*Make their home in ruins
*Some aligned with the Raven Queen
*Torment people with whispers of impending doom

Then there's another 26 lines of fluff under Shadowsworn Lore, much of it rehashed from the above but also some new stuff.

In other words, there's ample fluff there so that I don't need to do a damned thing if I want to use them as written. More importantly, there's not much space dedicated to the fluff which would be wasted if I decide to reconcept them as servants of Orcus who hunt down intelligent undead which don't swear fealty to him.

Please, give me an example of a monster which doesn't have enough fluff for someone who's never seen it before to use it.

 

[Steely Dan]

But if noboby had ever given me the fluff in the first place my dungeons would never have migrated beyond a ten foot room with an orc and a pie.

Well, that comes off as a lack of imagination, to me.

I've seen my 7-year-old nephew come up with fantastic fluff for strange monster toys he has and what not.

 

[GnomeWorks]

Well, that comes off as a lack of imagination, nothing more.

That's an awesome stance to hold.

Have you ever looked at a blank page before, with the intent of writing something fictional? It can take awhile before anything forms on that page. A long while.

Someone who has very little experience with fantasy, who walks into this game as a young teenager, will have the problem of the blank page, if there is limited fluff. Having few starting-off points is detrimental to that kind of player.

 

[Steely Dan]

That's an awesome stance to hold.

Thanks, I have been known to encompass pure awesomeness.

 

[Corjay]

That's an awesome stance to hold.

Have you ever looked at a blank page before, with the intent of writing something fictional? It can take awhile before anything forms on that page. A long while.

Someone who has very little experience with fantasy, who walks into this game as a young teenager, will have the problem of the blank page, if there is limited fluff. Having few starting-off points is detrimental to that kind of player.

Actually, the blank page syndrome occurs BECAUSE of the blank page. That is, your mind blanks out when looking at a white space. The mesmerizing effect occurs because your eyes have nothing to focus on, and thus dilate and blur your vision, causing you to zone out into a hypnotic state. And that is why rule number one in writing is: never stare at a blank piece of paper. Same with art.

So the blank paper thing doesn't apply here. You have a picture to look at, you have stats to contemplate, a brief descriptor, and the internet to use as a tool.

 

[Wormwood]

It sets a new gold standard for value and page economy.

Yep. Love at first sight for me.

I have no desire to replace anything fluffwise (I'm no worldbuilder), so the info provided is more than sufficient to play every monster I've seen

 

[Asmor]

Actually, the blank page syndrome occurs BECAUSE of the blank page. That is, your mind blanks out when looking at a white space. The mesmerizing effect occurs because your eyes have nothing to focus on, and thus dilate and blur your vision, causing you to zone out into a hypnotic state. And that is why rule number one in writing is: never stare at a blank piece of paper. Same with art.

So the blank paper thing doesn't apply here. You have a picture to look at, you have stats to contemplate, and the internet to use as a tool.

Huh, that's interesting. I actually killed a lot of time in high school staring at a blank page with the intention of writing something, but ended up just spending the entire time thinking about what to write.

Someone who has very little experience with fantasy, who walks into this game as a young teenager, will have the problem of the blank page, if there is limited fluff. Having few starting-off points is detrimental to that kind of player.

I've still yet to see an example of a monster with "limited fluff."

Unless you mean things like shadow snakes... But I mean, that's a snake. Made of shadows. Its whole schtick is already explained in its frickin' name. And for that matter, the snake entry talks about how Zehir sometimes empowers snakes.

 

[Psion]

I've always been a 'make my own fluff' sort of guy.

I feel hemmed in by too much fluff.

But I do require the kernel of ideas to work from, extrapolate from. The 4e MM format doesn't do much for me. It's possible to have too much fluff and not enough; I think the 4e MM errs on the side of not enough.

Hmmm... I feel a blog post coming on. We'll see if I have time between tonight's movie rental and Burn Notice.

 

[Jedi_Solo]

Mr. Dustyboots, I'll bonk myself on the head with my 4e MM when I get home from work tonight - I promise.

The group I play with very rarely cares about the ecology of the dungeons; we care about the plot lines, not about the creature's lifestyle. For this reason when I have guest DMed I was looking at the numbers attached to the monster, not the fluff.

That isn't to say that I haven't enjoyed reading some of the ecology articles - I have; but it is very rare that I care about that for game purposes. In the past I have said that the ecology information should be set aside so I can get more critters in my books - and I still feel that way.

Bring on the ecology articles - just don't include them in my MMs.